Obituaries

Harold V. Thornhill, a lawyer who spent his career working in insurance claims, died Nov. 6. He was 83. A native of Lynchburg, Mr. Thornhill was the valedictorian of the Lynchburg College Class of 1942. He served in the U.S. ...

Richmond attorney McDonald Wellford Jr., who served as deputy commissioner of accounts for the Richmond Circuit Court, died suddenly Nov. 1. He was 62. A graduate of East Tennessee State University, he earned his law degree from the Washington & ...

Retired Richmond General District Judge Henry J. Schrieberg died on Oct. 28 from injuries he received in a September auto accident. He was 90. The judge survived a spectacular two-car crash after he lost control of his Lincoln and struck ...

Norfolk attorney Geoffrey F. Birkhead, a partner at the firm of Vandeventer Black LLP, died Sept. 15. He was 58. A native of Baltimore, he grew up in Philadelphia and Huntington, W.Va. He graduated from Davidson College in 1968 and ...

Bruce D. Rasmussen, a renowned Charlottesville trial lawyer, died July 31 at his Ivy home from lung cancer. He was 57. At his time of death, Mr. Rasmussen was president of the Southern Trial Lawyers Association; he served as president ...

Courtland lawyer Richard E. Railey died July 31 at his summer residence in Nags Head, N.C. He was 82. A native of Northhampton County, N.C., he earned his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After ...

Ingram Thomas Benson, an Arlington lawyer who specialized in pension planning, died July 29 in Richmond. He was 88. Mr. Benson, who went by Tom, was a native of North Dakota and earned a chemistry degree from Carleton College in ...

Longtime Accomac lawyer Levin Franklin Davis died June 17. He was 79. A native of Painter, he graduated from the University of Virginia and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II in the Pacific Theatre. After the war, ...

Arlington lawyer David B. Kinney died July 13. He was 83. A native of Belfast, N.Y, he graduated from Alma College in Michigan in 1943. During World War II, he was not eligible for military service due to a medical ...

Elizabeth Rust Williams, the first female lawyer in Clarke County, died July 8. She was 59. She passed away at her 18th-century farm, Clermont, which her family had owned for many years and which friends said was her passion. Ms. ...